Atticus Aldredge
Atticus Nathaniel Aldredge is the youngest of four children born to Muggles Arthur and Gwendolyn Aldredge. He is the only one in his family with magical abilities. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from September 2055 to June 2062 and was Sorted into the house of Ravenclaw in his first year. Currently, he is the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the British Ministry of Magic. Early Life Born on July 16, 2044, and named after the character of the same name in his mother's favorite book (To Kill a Mockingbird), Atticus was the fourth child and second son of Arthur and Gwendolyn Aldredge. His older brother, Stanley, who was about five years older than him, often teased Atticus when they were older that it was the worst day of his life since he was no longer the special only son. This was when Simone and Sadie, twin sisters who were two years older than Atticus, would step in and scold Stan and promptly begin hitting him with whatever pillow was the first they could get their hands on. These impromptu pillow fights are some of Atticus's favorite childhood memories. Though he did play with the neighborhood kids every now and then, most of his time was spent with his family, partly by choice and partly because he, like his siblings, did not attend a public school. Rather, they were homeschooled, until Atticus began attending Hogwarts in September 2055. There was one person that came to the Aldredge home enough to be considered a part of their family, and that was Stan's best friend, Matthew Greenwell. Matthew, for whatever reason, preferred staying at his friend's house than his own and so he spent a great deal of time there. Atticus never quite understood why Matthew liked staying there, especially since he rarely complained about his family. All Atticus knew was that Matthew was the youngest child like him, and he had two older sisters (who were twins just like Simone and Sadie) and two older brothers. Though Atticus was never particularly close to Matthew, he liked him well enough, especially when compared to Stan's other friends. During his Hogwarts Years Atticus boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time on September 1, 2055. While there, he met his soon-to-be best friend, a Pureblood girl named Lucia Selwyn. They shared a compartment and the candy they bought from the food trolley during the journey. When they arrived at Hogwarts, both Atticus and Lucia were Sorted into the Ravenclaw house. For the most part, Atticus's years at Hogwarts were pretty normal, or at least as normal as a magic school could be. He made friends (including current Arithmancy Professor Josephina Hadley), he did his homework, he earned house points, and he watched the Quidditch games (never played though). His friendship with Lucy grew, though, for him, it developed into something more than mere friendship. Over the years, he developed feelings for her, which he finally realized at the end of his fourth year. She had a boyfriend at the time, so he didn't say anything to her about it...and still he kept his mouth shut even after she broke up with that boyfriend. Eventually, he managed to convince himself that he should not tell her, as it was highly possible that she did not like him in the same way, and it would probably end their friendship as they knew it. He didn't think he could handle not being her friend, so he stifled his feelings and simply continued their friendship. And though he might have given in eventually, he waited too long. During the summer before his sixth year, Lucy came over to his house. She had come over the summer before and really hit it off with his older sisters, so his family was thrilled that she was coming over again. His brother, Stan, had not been around the previous summer, so this was the first time he and Lucia would meet. The day after she arrived, Stan had Matthew over for a bit before they would head to a football game. When Atticus introduced her to them, Matthew caught Lucy’s eye and she caught his. Instead of going to the football game as they’d planned, it suddenly became a “family” event and they all, including Lucy, went together. The instant connection between his best friend and his brother’s best friend irked Atticus. He was more tempted than ever to tell Lucy how he felt, but still he never did. Their friendship continued as usual, and he feigned indifference as she wrote letters to Matthew throughout their last two years at Hogwarts. He feigned happiness when, a few months after graduation, Matthew and Lucia were engaged. He was just a friend after all - as long as she was happy, he was too. At least, that was what he told himself. During his Years at University Atticus left for the United States about a week after Matthew and Lucia's engagement to attend his chosen university and didn’t hear from Lucy at all during that time. He also heard very little from his family, not that he really tried to keep in contact with them. He didn't want to hear anything about how happy Matthew and Lucia were or how beautiful the wedding was or any of that sort. He preferred to spend his days studying magical creatures, developing a particular interest in creatures like winged horses, unicorns, and hippogriffs. He spent his time working with them and even spent a few months working with dragons in a dragon reserve (though as exciting as it was, he still didn't care much for dragons). Also during this time, he learned Gobbledegook and Mermish, though he isn’t yet fluent in Mermish, having given up on it after awhile. Throughout his years at his university, Atticus managed to make quite a few friends, though he didn't consider any of them best friends like he had considered Lucy. In his second year, he also began dating a girl named Daphne McKenzie, and though he did really like her, he broke up with her after about six months since he knew his heart really wasn't in the relationship. He wouldn't admit it to himself at the time, but he was still in love with Lucia, even though they hadn't spoken in two years and she was probably already married to Matthew. He didn't date anyone else after that break-up, and instead chose to focus solely on his studies. By the time graduation rolled around, Atticus hadn’t heard from his supposed best friend for about four years – then, about a week before his graduation, he received a letter from her, saying that she desperately needed to see him and that he needed to come back as soon as possible. After Graduation Atticus returned to the UK two days after his graduation, having owled her back the day before. After a few more owls to tell her his new address, she showed up on his doorstep, looking a little (or a lot) worse for wear and carrying a baby in her arms. She explained to him that Matthew had been killed about a year prior to their meeting, and she was on the run from the ones who had killed him, believing they would come after her next. She wouldn’t tell him who it was specifically (perhaps she herself didn’t know), but she refused to stay in one place for very long, no matter how much he insisted that he’d protect her if her pursuer(s) came there. Before he got up the next day, Lucy and her child had already left; the only trace that she’d been there at all was a note thanking him for his hospitality and understanding. Though Atticus worried about her daily, he began his career with magical creatures by joining a large reserve for various species of winged horses. In the beginning, he spent most of his time there handling the Abraxans and sometimes the Granians. Only once, between the time he started working there and now, did he hear from Lucia – in mid-January 2072, she sent him a letter requesting him to agree that, should anything happen to her, he would come find her daughter and take her in as his own and care for her. He sent his agreement through an owl but never received an answer. Assuming the worst, he has been trying to find his best friend’s daughter, but having no idea what sorts of places they would have traveled between, he has very little to go on and doesn’t want to involve too many people in it for fear that the person(s) who killed Lucy’s husband (and possibly Lucy) will find out and catch the girl before he can find her. Life as Department Head Around the beginning of the year 2076, Atticus accepted the position of Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He loved his work at the winged horses reserve, but as he also wanted to find Lucy's daughter, he figured he would be more likely to if he was in a much higher position than he was. So he traveled to London and found himself a flat to live in. His time as a Department Head has so far been pretty uneventful, for which he is grateful, as he doubts it will last very long. Towards the end of the 2075-2076 school year at Hogwarts, he was asked to teach a lesson in place of the Care of Magical Creatures professor. For that particular lesson, he decided to teach the students of Hogwarts about hippogriffs, and fortunately, the lesson went well, without any injuries on either the students or the hippogriffs. In the middle of July 2076, Atticus finally had a breakthrough in his search for Lucy's daughter. Appearance Atticus has dark brown hair and hazel eyes and is as tall as his father, standing at a height of 6'1". His skin is a bit tan from spending much of his time outside with the creatures he worked with, and he is pretty well built thanks to his time working with powerful, active creatures like the winged horses. Personality Atticus is typically very calm and even-tempered. He’s a bit reserved around people though isn’t really shy; he prefers to be a listener rather than a talker. He doesn’t mind listening to people’s problems or whatever else they want to talk about, and because of this, he is often a bit of a peacemaker and rarely takes sides in any argument. Atticus is most relaxed when working with animals or plants, and sometimes he prefers them over the company of people. Though he’s a Ravenclaw, he isn’t much of an avid reader, though he isn’t really opposed to reading either. He prefers a hands-on experience to simply reading about it from a book. Relationships 'Family' Arthur Aldredge Arthur was always a bit of a workaholic, and so he often didn't spend much time at home with his wife and children, and even when he was home, he brought whatever he could from work so he could continue with it. He wasn't a bad father though - he nearly always made it to special events that his family went to, and he attended every single one of his children's graduations (with the exception of Atticus, since there wasn't much of a graduation ceremony at Hogwarts, and Atticus was all the way in the States for his graduation from university). It was, at least partially, due to him that Atticus was allowed to go to Hogwarts in the first place. He was generally a very practical, logical person, and he could tell that not allowing young Atticus to hone his magical abilities would do more harm than good, and being a fairly persuasive person, he was able to convince his anxious wife of that as well. Afterwards though, he and Atticus saw very little of each other, as Atticus was away at Hogwarts most of the year and Arthur worked most of the time even during the summer when Atticus was home, and it is because of this that they are not very close. Gwendolyn Aldredge Gwen could be described as the perfect mother. She's typically very kind and gentle and loves all four of her children unconditionally. She tenderly took care of her children whenever they were sick or hurt and comforted them whenever they got scared. She was also the one who disciplined her children most often - and some of them were disciplined more than the others. While she was always supportive of her children and encouraged them to chase their dreams and become whatever they wanted to be, she was a little reluctant to let her youngest child, Atticus, go to Hogwarts when he was eleven years old. She was used to having all her children at home and homeschooling them and didn't want any of them to leave so soon, especially not her youngest. She was convinced they could all handle Atticus's occasional outbursts of magic. However, she finally allowed him to go after her husband, always the practical one, convinced her that attending Hogwarts would be the best thing for Atticus. Stanley Aldredge Stanley - better known as Stan - is the oldest of the Aldredge children and Atticus's older brother. Ever since he was young he has always been a jokester, always wanting to have a good time. No one is exempt from his jokes and pranks, though a special amount is reserved for his younger brother. He always enjoyed teasing Atticus, but always in a good-natured, brotherly way. Only once did he ever really snap at his brother, and that was during the summer after Atticus's first year at Hogwarts. When they were young, Stan's partner-in-crime was his best friend Matthew Greenwell. They were constantly getting into trouble together, but none of it ever fazed them. They were simply out to have a good time no matter what. Their favorite person to prank was, of course, Atticus, but they also enjoyed playing jokes on Stan's sisters, Sadie and Simone, as well as anyone else they happened to feel like pranking on any particular day. Oddly enough, Stan, like Atticus, did not really like the relationship building between Matthew and Lucia, though he disliked it for an entirely different reason. Because of their relationship, Matthew became a little less inclined to continue his mischievous ways. Even though he and Stan were adults and attending university, they had still kept up their pranks whenever they could. Then suddenly, Matthew didn't want to do it any longer, and instead wanted to actually - and Stan even shuddered when he heard it - focus on his studies. Studying was something Atticus had generally done better than Stan in, and so now that he was without his partner-in-crime, Stan demanded asked Atticus to give him tips on how to study for those horrid things known as exams. Atticus, of course, reminded him that he was only good at studying because Simone had helped him most of the time, and he suggested Stan ask her instead, but Stan refused. Simone Sandburg Simone has always been the sweetest of the Aldredge children. She's very kind and won't sa y a mean word to anyone...except her brother Stan. Stan's personality and behavior has always annoyed her and probably always will, even though he has calmed down a bit now that he's married and has a son and daughter. She is a very practical person, and was the one who often helped quiz Sadie and Atticus to help them study and made sure they always did their homework - and she continued to do so even after Atticus started his magical education at Hogwarts. She was definitely a big help to him since he didn't care for actually reading most of the time. Because of her assistance in studying for even his Hogwarts-related things, Simone was probably the one out of the entire family who was most interested in the Wizarding World. She liked to read Atticus's textbooks whenever he wasn't using them and often asked questions about what his life was like at the school. She was also the one who wrote him letters most often, and, though she never actually confronted him about it, was probably the first to suspect that he had feelings for his friend, Lucia. Sadie Kerridge Sadie is the really fiery, temperamental one of the Aldredge children. She can lose her temper pretty easily, especially if someone is doing something cruel and mean to someone else. As she has a very strong sense of loyalty, she is really protective of her family and friends, but she is especially protective of her "wittle" brother Atticus. She was the one who often went off on Stan whenever he played a prank on Atticus - she yelled at him far more than even Simone did, and it was she who generally started the pillow fights. Sadie is also a very artsy person and particularly loves painting. Animals and nature were her favorite things to paint, and she always jumped at the chance to paint the creatures that were pictured in Atticus's Care of Magical Creatures textbooks. While she painted, he would often tell her all about the creature she was painting, what other creatures he'd learned about in his classes that year, and other things like that. She let him talk, though she sometimes tuned him out. 'Friends' Lucia Selwyn Lucia - better known to him as "Lucy" - and Atticus became best friends from the moment they met on the Hogwarts Express for their first year at Hogwarts. It was fate that they would also be Sorted into the house of Ravenclaw and be a ble to continue their friendship all throughout their time at Hogwarts. They complemented each other in both their studies and their personalities. Lucy was the one who excelled in spells and potions while Atticus did the best in the more hands-on subjects, like Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, and they helped each other study in their weak subjects. Personality-wise, Lucy was extremely talkative and out-going, whereas Atticus was a bit calmer and quieter. She brought him out of his shell, and he helped her stay out of trouble (for the most part). Ever since they first met, she often referred to him as "Atti", and she was one of the only people allowed to use that nickname. Even after not seeing each other for four years, when Atticus went off to the States for university, their friendship didn't fade - out of all the friends she had made at Hogwarts, he was the one that Lucia knew she could turn to in her time of need, though even then she didn't depend on him for long. Perhaps it was a sign that, even if their friendship hadn't faded completely, it had definitely weakened after all those years. Atticus believes that it started once she had met Matthew and because he failed to tell her of his own feelings - though he won't ever admit to the latter. It's much easier to blame their lost friendship on Matthew, after all. Matthew Greenwell When Atticus was younger, he sort of looked up to Matthew as a second older brother. He certainly might as well have been as Matthew spent most of his free time at the Aldredges' home. Atticus, at times, felt like he could relate more to Matthew than his actual brother Stan, since Matthew, like Atticus, was the youngest in his family and he knew what it felt like to be overlooked because of his older, "better" siblings. It wasn't always all hunky-dory with them though, as Matthew certainly took part in many of Stan's pranks on Atticus, but really that only made him even more of a brother to him - because it just wouldn't be realistic to think they could get along all the time. Atticus saw less of Matthew once he started Hogwarts, but he didn't see much of his real siblings either being gone most of the year, so it wasn't too bad. He even got used to it after awhile - so much so that he became annoyed when he had to see and hear about him almost constantly after that fateful summer before his sixth year. He gradually grew a little bitter towards his former "brother" and blamed him for the later strain on his and Lucy's friendship. Josephina Hadley goes here Daphne McKinzie goes here Other Ordinary Wizarding Levels Total: 8 *Astronomy - P *Arithmancy - A *Ancient Runes - P *Care of Magical Creatures - O *Charms - E *Defense Against the Dark Arts - A *Herbology - O *History of Magic - T *Muggle Studies - O *Transfiguration - E *Potions - E Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests Total: 7 *Care of Magical Creatures - O *Charms - E *Defense Against the Dark Arts - E *Herbology - O *Muggle Studies - O *Transfiguration - E *Potions - E Category:Characters Category:Ravenclaw Category:Ministry of Magic Category:Alumni Category:Department of Magical Creatures